Starkville Area Business Briefcase

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Created 08/07/2010 - 9:57pm

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SDN News Staff

Camgian executive to address Discovery Luncheon

RIDGELAND — The Mississippi Technology Alliance will present the Capital Innovators Discovery Luncheon on Tuesday at the Ruth’s Chris Steak House at the Renaissance in Ridgeland.
The featured speaker will be Dr. Gary Butler, founder, president and CEO of Starkville-based Camgian Microsystems.
Butler will discuss “The Embedded Internet,” and how it is projected to enable the explosive growth of applications such as remote asset tracking, sensing and control.
The program will also include a presentation from Gerald Nelson, director of Mississippi State University’s Thad Cochran Endowment for Entrepreneurship.
Nelson will explain how his organization supports entrepreneurs and introduce some of the innovative companies formed by MSU students and faculty.
Registration for the luncheon begins at 11:30 a.m. with the lunch and program beginning at noon.
The luncheon will conclude by 1 p.m. Reservations are $25 per person, and may be made online at http://www.technologyalliance.ms/index.php[1].
The Mississippi Technology Alliance is a non-profit organization whose mission is to drive innovation and technology-based economic development for the State of Mississippi.

Harris joins local Land Bank branch

Bart Harris – loan officer – has joined their staff at Starkville Branch of Mississippi Land Bank, officials said.
He was previously a loan officer at the Houston Branch office and joins Bill Cook, vice president and branch manager; Debbie Carlisle, loan administrator, Tyler Anderson, loan officer and Misty Lewis, office assistant of the Starkville Branch to serve the financing needs of Lowndes, Noxubee, Oktibbeha, Winston, Choctaw and Attala counties.
Mississippi Land Bank provides financing and refinancing solutions for farming land, ag operations and equipment, recreational property, investment property, ag equipment and operations and rural home-sites with acreage. Headquartered in Senatobia, there are 10 Mississippi Land Bank branches across north Mississippi.

PSC adopts state’s Ratepayers’ Bill of Rights

On Tuesday, the Mississippi Public Service Commission approved the state’s first Ratepayers’ Bill of Rights, which will help assure consumers of fair treatment by utility companies, officials said.
PSC Chairman Brandon Presley initially crafted and proposed the concept in February 2009, PSC officials said in a statement.
“Today, we put into place in Mississippi some basic, decent and humane guidelines for how customers should be treated by their utility companies,” he said, adding the move is a “historic achievement for the people of Mississippi.”
Presley said the order passed Tuesday was amended by the other two commissioners from his original proposal two years ago.
“This order doesn’t do everything I wanted it to do; but it sure is a good start, and I’m glad to finally have a vote on it and get it put in place for the people in my district and all across Mississippi,” Presley said.
Presley said the Ratepayers’ Bill of Rights goes into effect Sept. 4. A copy of the signed order related to the document can be found on the PSC’s website – http://www.psc.state.ms.us/[2]
Consumers who have questions regarding their rights can call Presley’s office at (800) 356-6428.

Web chat to focus on health care tax credits offered to small business

WASHINGTON — The SBA’s Web Chat will highlight small business health care, with a focus on how the Affordable Care Act will benefit small business owners through available tax-saving incentives.
Participants can learn about the newest tax credits they can take advantage of, and additional tax provisions to be implemented during the next several years.
John Tuzynski, chief of Employment Tax and Specialty Programs for the Small Business Self-Employed (SB/SE) Division at the Internal Revenue Service, will host the August web chat on “Health Care and Small Business.”
SBA’s Web chat series provides small business owners with an opportunity to discuss relevant business issues online with experts, industry leaders and successful entrepreneurs.
Chat participants will have direct, real-time access to the Web chats via questions they submit online in advance and during the live session, with instant answers.
The chat will take place Thursday at noon CDT. Tuzynski will answer questions for one hour.
Participants can join the live Web chat by going online to http://www.sba.gov/[3], and clicking “Online Business Chat.”
Web chat participants may post questions before the Thursday chat by visiting http://web.sba.gov/livemeeting/Aug10/[4] and posting their questions online.
To review archives of past Web chats, visit http://www.sba.gov/tools/monthlywebchat/index.html[5].

To submit business briefs, drop them by the newspaper office at 304 Lampkin St. or send them to News Editor Paul Sims via e-mail to sdnnews@bellsouth.net[6], fax at 323-6586, or mail to the following address: Starkville Daily News; Attn.: News Editor Paul Sims; P.O. Box 1068; Starkville, MS 39760. The newspaper staff reserves the right to edit submitted materials. Photos are published according to space availability and the amount of items to be published in the Business Briefcase in any given week. Any items which are received past the deadline – which for the coming week is Wednesday at 5 p.m. or which are submitted on time but do not run due to space constraints will be considered for use the next week.